I have been a bit lazy here at Mokuhankan recently ... I have been remiss in keeping you up-to-date with our progress on another one of our 'fronts' - the Mokuhankan Partner project!

For those of you unfamiliar with this, I should perhaps give an overview. Our Mokuhankan catalogue is growing only very slowly of course, because I simply don't have many resources (time and/or money) to pour into it. We added the two senshafuda sets last year, along with a couple of reprints of my own preserved blocks, but at that rate, I'll be 99 before we get a good selection of prints in there!

But a year or so ago, I had an idea. What if I were to approach other print suppliers - people whose work I knew and trusted - and suggest that we work together to bring their prints to the market? They would gain by having the international exposure I could provide, and I would gain by having Mokuhankan become a much more interesting and varied place to shop.

As I wrote in my newsletter last year, I went ahead with this idea, and Mokuhankan now has three 'partners'.

Let me introduce them to you:

1) We now have prints from the oeuvre of the late Toshi Yoshida, newly produced by my friend Shinkichi Numabe, one of the most respected printers working in the field today. He works - in the Yoshida building - under the direction of Toshi-san's son Tsukasa to create these prints, of . . .
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Good grief! It has been ages since I've written anything. Between travel, Christmas, Colds, and general winter lethargy, not a whole lot has happened. But, I couldn't put off getting this copper piece started any longer. Hopefully, it will be the engraved plate which is its primary purpose, AND I will be able to get a print off of it for my show in June, which I am really supposed to be working on. It is pretty slow going and I can only stand to work on it four to six hours a day - my back seems to feel it is obligated to set up a major screaming session if I try to push it any further. So, here is as far as we have made it after about 4 days of work:

The section under the newsprint will be the next part and will be started this weekend. Meanwhile, I am off to Ink and Drink at Atelier Meridian this evening. My son and I are going to sneak off and "smash hearts" (make valentines for our respective spouses). Should be great fun!

Subject: Cold country and then another trip across the oceanPosted by: Maria

Preston Lawing from Winona, Minnesotta USA says this about his amazing contribution:This block is a nod to my time living in New York City in the 1970s and 80's, the influence of Edward Hopper, and the views from my apartment in Greenwich Villiage.

Thanks for letting me share part of my time in a great City of the World.

And the incomparable Andy English, wood engraver from Ely, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom not only sent his city block but a priceless collection of tiny jewels he calls prints.

This wonderful city of ours should have a printing press so I have used my block to celebrate the Victorian Albion hand presses that I use in my studio. We can see the wonderful medieval cathedral at Ely from our house and it frequently appears in my work and so I have suggested its unique profile through a window.

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